GEFFEN: ANOTHER NEW MOVIE STUDIO? “IMPOSSIBLE”

David Geffen, who was once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood — he was already a billionaire several times over from his music business when he cofounded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1994 — now appears to be content remaining on the sidelines. Appearing at a news conference with television critics to promote a PBS American Masters special about him (“Inventing David Geffen”), Geffen was asked whether it would be possible today to raise the money to launch a new studio like DreamWorks. Geffen replied, “Impossible,” then for emphasis, “It’s not possible.” He insisted that he is so far removed from the film industry that he has not attended a screening of DreamWorks’s Lincoln, directed by former partner Spielberg, due to be released in November. “I hear it’s wonderful,” he added. Geffen, who at one time was reported to be in talks to buy the New York Times and/or the Los Angeles Times, said he is no longer interested in owning a newspaper. “I was not looking to be a newspaper owner as an investment. I was going to buy the New York Times out of my foundation and make it a nonprofit because I think the New York Times is essential. … Friends of mine who work for the New York Times are constantly telling me how much they are cutting budgets and everything, and I thought I could do something that would be worthwhile, and keep the New York Times as strong as possible.”